Truck-body lifting and dumping apparatus



H. S. MORTON. TRUCK BODY LIFTING AND DUMPING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.17| I920.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

3 SHEETS$HEET 1.

H. S. MORTON.

TRUCK BODY LIFTING AND DUMPING APPARATUS.

APPLlCATlON FILED AUG.\7|192G.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922 3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 5 UMP} mm mw M 5 H. S. MORTON.

TRUCK BODY LIFTING AN D DUMPING APPARATUS. APPLICATION man Aue.17. 1920.

1,41 1,801, Patented A r. 4, 1922.

SSHEETS-SHEET a. 4 q, 9

l I I Aframvsyi PATENT OFFICE.

HAROLD S. MORTON, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

TRUCK-BODY LIFTING AND DUMPING APPARATUS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 4, 1922.

Application filed August 17, 1920. Serial No. 404,184.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HAROLD S. MORTON, a citizen of the United States,residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State ofMinnesota, have invented a new and useful Truck-Body Lifting and pumpingApparatus, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to that class of 11fting-and dumping apparatus 1nwhich the body is first tilted to predeterm ned angle and then raised toa predetermined elevation to facilitate dumping and distributing coal,gravel, sand or any other mater1al carried by the body. -Moreparticularly the invention is designed to dump at any predeterminedlevel of the body without materially affecting the stability of thevehicle upon which the body is mounted and causing the vehicle tooverturn. The improved apparatus employed for accom lishing theseresults relates more particular y to a structure (for convenience termeda .linkage) interposed between the frame of the vehicle and the body,said frame being lifted or driven upwardly by any suitable ram, winch orelevating element, that employed not solely constltuting my inventionbut cooperating therewith in a manner suitable to apply a liftingefforteither automatically or partly by hand. Further objects and advantagesattained and details of construction will be apparent to one skilled inthe art to which this invention relates from the following description.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification, Fig. 1is a side elevation of a truck equipped with my improvement, the dottedline position indicating one position the body is adapted to assume whenfully raised but not tilted and the full line position indicating aposition immediately after the body-has started to elevate; Fig, 2 is aside elevatlon of a detail of the same mechanism shown in Fig. l inwhich the full lines indicate one tilting position the body may be madeto assume and the dotted lines, another positlon; Fig. 3 is a sideelevation of one of the lever arms of the linkage; Fig. 4 is an end viewof the structure shown in Fig. 3; Flg. 5 1s a side elevation of anotherone of the lever arms; Fig. 6 is a plan of the structure shown 1n Fig.5; Fig. 7 is a plan of substantially the entire linkage separated fromthe yehicle frame and body; Fig. 8 is an end view of the structureillustrated in Fig. 7 and a cross section of the channel members of thevehicle frame and body, showing the method of slidably mounting theshoes of the linkage on said members; Fig. 9 is :1 vertical sectiontaken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 7, showing the construction in detail ofthe adjusting structure, whereby the body may be made to lift and tiltat any predetermined elevation and angle.

The angle required to cause coal and other materials to How freely onany inclined surface varies very greatly with the character of material,its size and preparation, and the amount of moisture in it. For thisreason, my invention is designed to move the body containing the load ofmaterial from normal position into the following positions:

Elevation to the maximum height with the body level, and elevation toslightly lesser heights at the rear of the body with angles ofinclination of any redetermined number of degrees desired. he inventioncomprises three distinct parts, namely? a power driven hoist forproducing the thrust which is to lift the load; a system of links towhich the thrust produced by the hoist is applied, and a box or bodywhich is elevated and supported in various positions by the linkage orlifting and tilting structure. The invention does not concern itself indetail with thehoist, but simply requires a hoisting mechanism capableof delivering a maximum thrust through a suflicient distance to allowthe linkage to fully function. In the drawings I have shown my inventionapplied to a truck A, which may be of any suitable form. This truck hasthe usual frame 10 or chassis which employs a pair of lon itudinalchannel members 11 and 12 in its structure (see Fig. 8). A body or box Bis freely disposed above the frame of the truck and rests normally onsupports 13 and 14 which are carried by the members 11 and 12. The bodyB is mount- 1 ed upon a pair of longitudinal channel members 15 and 16(see Fig. 8) and has a spout or chute at its back end through which thematerial may flow, all of which structure is of ordinary form. Arrangedis mounted on a transverse axis by gudgeons 17 which are journaled inthe truck frame. The piston of this hoist has its .piston rod 18extending u wardly a sufficient height and in a suitab e position toconnect with the linkage as will be hereinafter described.

The system of links by which the different positions of the body areobtained, consists of three principal units, which for convenience willbe designated as the main link C, the front link D, and the rear link E.Each of the e links may be made up of steel channels rlthough anysuitable material and form ma be employed for the purpose desired) an;comprises members for each side of the chassis, suitably braced togetherto form rigid units. The main link has a pair of side members 20 and 21connected by the transverse members 22 and 23 and cross braced b thediagonal rods 24 and 25; the forward inkhas a pair of side members 26and 27 cross braced by the diagonal rods 28 and 29 which are tiedtogether at their intersection by the rivet 30 and the rear link has apair of side members 31 and 32 cross braced by the diagonal rods 33 and34 which are also tied together at their int rsection by the rivet 3 5.

Arranged across the linkage is a tubular shaft 36 which passes acrossand through the side members of che'main link, substantially midwaybetween its front and rear ends and upon Wl? ich the main link is freeto turn as a fulcrum. The rear ends of the front link and the front endsof the rear link are also journaled upon the shaft 36, the sides of saidfront and rear links being freely positioned to tilt along the outersides of the main link. Ear; side member of the front link is formed atits rear end with bifurcations 37 through which the shaft 36 passes andbetween which the front end G ofa companion side element of the rearlinkis placed and journaled on said shaft. This structure assists instrengthening the linkage and holding its parts in position.

The main link is hingedly. supported at its rear end by bearings 38bolted or otherwise secured to the transverse member 39 of the truckframe 10 and is hingedly fastened at its front end by bearin s40 whichare bolted or otherwise secure to the longitudinal supporting members 15and 16 of the body B. The thrust of the hoist F- is applied to the mainlink at a point a short distance back of its center and a considerabledistance ahead of its rear bearings,

through a short transverse shaft 41 mounted upon a pair of shortlongitudinalsupporting arms 42 positioned closely and parallel andsecured to members 22 and 23 being employed as a pivot to which theupper end of the thrust rod 18 is journaled.

The main link controls the motion of the front of the body. The motionof the rear end of the body is governed by the rear link which is hingedto the front link at its rear end in the manner described and isattached at its rear end b shoes 44 and 45 which are pivoted to thesides of the link E by a transverse shaft 46 and slidably secured in theguide grooves which receive and their shoulders engage the lower sidesof the channel members 15 and 16 of the truck body so that the rearwardend of the 'link' member E may slide longitudinally below the rear endof the bod The front end of the front link slida ly attached to thetruck frame by means of shoes 47 and 48 which are coupled to the sidemembers 11 and 12 by a transverse shaft 49 and which receive the uppersides of the side members 11 and 12 of the truck frame in engaginggrooves 71. I

The three links are thus movably coupled together, the movement thereofbeim controlled by a key element, in the foll owing manner whereby theposition the body as sumes when raised is predetermined or adjusted. Themechanism for completing this operation consists of the following Thesides 26 and 27 of the forward link have their ends adjoining the shaft36 formed with corresponding shoulders 50 in each of which is a pinreceiving depression 51.

(See Fig. 4). The sides 31 and 32 of the rear link have their endsadjoining the shaft 36 formed with co-operating series of pin openings52 each arranged on an are described from the center of shaft 36 andcorresponding with the same are on which the depression 51 is arranged.By inserting a pin in corresponding holes of each set in the rear link,the front link will govern and control the positions of the rear linkduring the raising operation. Changing the positions of the pins in theholes in the rear ink controls the angle which can exist between thefront and rear links. This, in turn, controls the height to which therear end of the body is raised by the rear link. During this operationthe main link controls the motion of the front of the body.

It will be noted the invention provides for simultaneous motion of pins55 and 56 on opposite sides and also makes it impossible for the pins tobe inserted in different holes on opposite sides. These pins slideoutwardly and inwardly through the lower ends of a pair of guides 57 and58. Said guides are hung from and attached to the op osite ends of shaft36 which project throug the links and to which the guides are attached.The pins are thus arranged to swing from the center of the shaft 36through arcs intersecting the centers of the series of holes 52 so thatthe pins may be plunged through any one of said holes desired orwithdrawn. Sliding longitudinally through a plug 59 in one end of theshaft 36 and attached by threaded connection to a sliding support 60projecting from the other end of said shaft freely attached to guide 58and to the median is a connecting shaft 61. One end 62 of this shaft isbent to form a radiating arm which is attached by the fastener 63 to pin55. A lever 64 is plvotally attached at one end by the fastener 65 to in56 and by pin and slot connection 66 at t e other end. A link 67 portionof the lever acts as a fulcrum for said lever. A helical expansionspring 68 in the shaft 36 and pressing against the plug 59 and a sto 69on shaft 61 tends to urge the pins 55 an 56 inwardly but permits bothpins to be withdrawn from the adjusting holes '52 and readjusted onopposite sides simultaneously. This construction makes it impossible forthe pins to be inserted in different holes on opposite sides. Allchanges of adjustment are made when the truck body is down, consequentlyno strain is on any of the links except their own weight. v

The holes for adjustment on the links may be as many as'.desired andtheir position may also be arranged to accommodate different positionssought to be attained for dumping purposes. The first hole marked 52 maybe arranged so that when the pins are inserted before the load is liftedinto dumping position the front and rear links are held so that the bodyis maintained in horizontal position during the entire lifting movement.If

I the pins are inserted in any of the remaining ably secured about thepivot or fulcrum to alter the length of travel at its power end and thetime when it is made to lift the rear-end of the body.

In accordance with the patent statutes I have described the principlesof operation of my invention, together with the-apparatus which I nowconsider the best embodiment thereof but I desire to have it understoodthat the construction shown is only illustrative and that the inventioncan be carried out by other means and applied to uses other than thoseabove set forth within the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention what I claim as new. and desire to secureby Letters Patent is:

1. In combination with a vehicle having a chassis, a body carried by thevehicle, linkage interposed between the chassis and body, said linkagecomprising a main link hinged being d'espectively secured by acommonpivot connection on the median portion of the main link and beingconnectectby a variable connection, whereby the angle at which the bodywill dump can be readily prearranged and means for imparting a liftingeffort to the main link to tilt the latter upwardly on the chassis.

2. In combination with a vehicle having a chassis, a body carried by thevehicle, linkage interposed between the chassis and body, said inkagecomprising a main link hinged near one end to the rear end of saidchassis and near its opposite end to a portion of the body forward ofits center of gravity, a forward link having its forward end slidinglymounted to travel longitudinally on the chassis and a rear link havingits rear end slidingly mounted to travel longitudinally on the body,said forward and rear links being respectively secured by a common pivotconnection on the medianportion of the main link, said forward and rearlinks being releasably secured together in selective radial osition nearsaid common ivotal connection, whereby the angle at which the body willdump can be readily'prearran ed, and means for imparting a lifting e ort1 to the main link to tilt the latter upwardly on the chassis.

3. In combination with a vehicle having a chassis, a bod carried by thevehicle, linkage interposed etween the chassis and body,

' said linkage comprising a main link hinged being secured b a commonivotal connection on the median portion 0 the main link, means forimparting a lifting effort to the main link to tilt the latter upwardlyon the chassis and means. carried by said forward and rear links forregulatin the len th of arc through which they wil swing uring saidupward movement, whereby the an 1e at which the body will dump can bereadily prearranged.

4. In combination with a vehicle having a chassis, a body carried by thevehicle, linkage interposed between the chassis and body,

said linkage comprising a main link hinged near one end to the rear endof said chassis -portion of the main link extending outwardly towardsboth sides of the vehicle, means for imparting a lifting effort to themain link to tilt the latter upwardly on the chassis and means carriedby said forward and rear links for regulating the arc'through which theywill swing about said shaft during said upward movement comprising avariable joint about said shaft between said. forward and rear linkshaving engagmg pins connected through 'said shaft for simultaneousoutward and inward movement to lock or unlock the members of said joint.

5. In a link structure for lifting purposes, a main link and forward andrear links, said forward and rear links being secured together and tothemain link by a hollow pivot and having overlap ing pairs of sidesformed with stop shou ders and series of pin receiving openings adaptedto receive a pair of pins in selected positions against said shoulderson the opposite sides of the link structure, and means passin lonitudinally through the opening in sai. sha t and connecting said pinsfor causing them to simultaneously withdraw from their openin or enterany selected pair of opposite openings.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

HAROLD S. MORTON.

